She hadn’t made any mistakes that had led to the siege, but that wouldn’t help her much if she was within easy striking distance.
-o-o-o-
Athena’s Ranch, South Park
By dinner time, Athena had worked her way back through nine networks as she traced GZ’s message to its creator, the cartel spy at DOJ. Even with all her skill and equipment, it’d taken her all day. Most particularly, she had to be thankful for free enterprise in the People’s Republic of China.
Viola prepared lasagna for dinner. While everyone except Leo ate, Cici said, “I’d hope to stay for a few days, but my peeps are already panicking. They think I’ve been kidnapped like Viola was. My assistant has told anyone who’ll listen that I’m taking a few days off for alone time, but the rumors keep getting crazier. Two people claim to have spotted me at Guantánamo Bay. My fans won’t be happy until lots of people report seeing me in some public place. So, I’m going to head to Aspen. I should get there by dark.”
That was a big disappointment, but the timing just hadn’t been right for Athena to enjoy their time together.
After filling her stomach and Leo’s, she returned to her electronic travels around the world. GZ’s message had circled the globe several times.
-o-o-o-
Sunday
By two a.m., long after Beau and Viola had gone to bed, Athena found herself inside a network somewhere near Washington DC. She wasn’t the least bit surprised. After a few more keystrokes, she realized GZ’s message had originated from a condo in Bethesda, Maryland. The message had begun its long journey at a computer with an IP address belonging to someone named Donald L. Martin.
Athena checked an internal DOJ directory and discovered that Martin was a mid-level supervising attorney in Main Justice’s Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section in DC. In other words, he was one of the guys who prosecuted dirty governmental employees. From that vantage point, Martin was ideally suited to spy on a wide variety of local, state, and Federal agencies, including his own. If she’d lived near Bethesda, she would’ve been happy to break into his condo and strangle him with her bare hands.
Athena was sure she’d found the mole, but before she accused him of treason, she reviewed each step of her progress to make sure she hadn’t taken a wrong turn in Istanbul or Bangkok, or Minsk.
She made no mistakes. The winding path led to a current Department of Justice official who had all the expertise and security clearances he’d needed to cause an incredible amount of damage by spying for the Santiago cartel.
It was well before dawn, but Athena wasted no time. She created a new email account on DOJ’s server so she could send an internal message to Chen, the head of the FBI’s International Corruption Unit. There was some risk that he might also be dirty, but she had to inform somebody within Main Justice. Neither Beau nor Roger would be able to arrest Martin, the murderous son of a bitch who’d betrayed so many people, including her. If Chen didn’t take action, she had other alternatives, but it would be best to start internally.
The message read, Do you want to know the name of the DOJ traitor who almost managed to kill Roger Conway and who’s devastated so many others? If so, log onto the server referenced in the link below. Your account name is Monroe, and your password is your social security number, backwards, followed by your mother’s ZIP Code, also backwards. No spaces or dashes. If you don’t log on within twenty-four hours, I’ll assume you’re not interested.
At the encrypted site she’d given him, she left detailed notes showing how GZ’s deadly message had traveled from Donald Martin to Carlotta Santiago. As a special bonus, she also included a copy of the Shanghai hacks with a note: I’m giving these to you for free, as a loyal American should, but be aware that this collection of codes recently cost me a hundred and fifty-four grand. I won’t say where I got them, but it’s likely they’ve already been used by China to compromise every major US government network for months, including yours. You might want to think about plugging these holes and seeing what secrets you’ve already lost. Assuming you find this information useful, I wouldn’t mind being reimbursed for my expenses. As soon as you patch the security on a thousand governmental networks, the existence of these hacks will inevitably get back to UNIX. That’ll soon render these now-precious tools worthless. So, I’m doing the right thing here, and if you are inclined to recognize that and to keep a door open for future cooperation, send a payment in your favorite digital currency to the link below. Of course, I’ll be most seriously displeased if you use that link to try to track me down. And I’ll know.
To keep Roger in the loop, she copied him on the message. Before calling it a night, she checked Chen’s Outlook files to see whether he had been investigating the Santiago clan’s nefarious activities. Apparently so, as evidenced by over a thousand emails in his email folder labeled Santiago Cartel.
On the off chance that DOJ might want to cover its ass with respect to Carlotta and company, Athena copied Chen’s entire email folder.
-o-o-o-
Athena slept in that morning, at least as much as she could with Leo waking up every few hours. Saintly Viola provided her breakfast in bed. Beau sat there with Leo, and Athena told him what she’d done the night before.
When she finished, he said, “You realize DOJ is going to freak out about your access to their network.”
“Yeah, but their tech wizards will look around for weaknesses in their firewalls and still probably not find my way in. They’ll attribute my access to the Shanghai hacks. And even if they do ship me out, I had to get my message to him right away. A message coming from inside the agency would be taken more seriously.”
What she didn’t say was that DOJ’s security was vulnerable in a number of ways, so she was sure she could penetrate their networks again in the future.
“You think he’ll risk logging into the outside network to see the material you provided for him?” Beau asked. “It could be a trap.”
Athena checked her phone. “Sure, but they’ll use a clean machine not connected to their system. Haven’t tried yet. I’m sure all the Federal computer whizzes back in DC are going insane as they discover what the Chinese have been stealing for months.”
He frowned. “I’m thrilled you found the bastard, but you took a lot of risks along the way.”
“I couldn’t wait anymore. Probably delayed too long already. And even if Justice doesn’t use the hacked information I provided, they now know who the right target is. That should make it easier to find more evidence to incriminate him.”
Unfortunately, finding GZ probably wouldn’t help her locate the Viper. He was the greatest threat she and Viola faced. While on the hunt, he would drop out of sight completely. She hadn’t thought up any new approaches to tracking him down. Their best hope remained finding Carlotta and using her to call off the assassin.
Beau rose to take sleeping Leo to his bassinet. “It’s Sunday. You should rest.”
“I’ll take it easy, but later, I might help Viola set up a virtual church. She’s really into that Santa Muerte thing. Remember last night, how excited she was? She thinks God is working within her, and she’s probably right. I just have to figure out a way to keep her online activity isolated from us.”
Beau rolled his eyes. “Lapsed Catholics tend to become spiritually lost for a while, but I can’t see any harm in what she’s doing. For God's sake, don’t tell ma mamie I said that. She doesn’t know about Santa Muerte, but she’s very suspicious of non-Catholics in general and never get her started talking about Creole vodou.”
Athena had been raised as a Methodist, and a week ago, she hadn’t known anything about Santa Muerte either. But Viola seemed to be worshiping the same Lord that she did. Viola just approached Him from a different angle.
-o-o-o-
Throughout the afternoon, Athena helped Viola set up her Santa Muerte website. They also created social media pages on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. In the main, they dupl
icated what Jesus and Maria had done, but Viola needed sites she could control.
Once everything was finished, Athena recorded Viola’s most recent sermon, which was about forgiveness. That was a not-so-subtle plea to Carlotta to live and let live. Athena was all for that but skeptical that the jefa would agree.
Viola’s face simply glowed while she preached. Maybe God was inspiring her. Athena’s heart glowed, too, from seeing the transformation in the young woman.
Athena arranged for online advertising to promote the new Denver Santa Muerte website. It didn’t take long for people to notice, and the likes and follows poured in. The website’s contact page also filled with compliments.
Many fans recognized Viola from the cartel’s sites and asked why she’d abandoned them. Not wanting to piss off Carlotta any more than necessary, Viola ignored those questions.
From time to time, Athena checked to see whether the head of the FBI’s International Corruption Unit had reacted to her early-morning messages. No emails came from Chen. Still, someone working at the National Security Agency in the DC area did attempt to break through the firewall at the encrypted site Athena had directed Chen to.
She sent a message to Chen, Cut that out, right now, or you’ll never hear from me again.
The attack on her server stopped immediately.
Chapter 27
After dinner, Chen sent Athena a message using the account she’d set up inside DOJ. Who are you? We don’t work with anonymous people. And what do you have on Martin besides a very speculative backtrack of that message? Looks like he’s being set up.
Those were legitimate concerns, ones she would’ve raised if she’d been in his shoes. She copied Roger on the response.
But she wasn’t about to reveal her identity to Chen when the department might have more than one mole working inside. And he didn’t seem to be nearly as suspicious of Martin as she’d expected.
Athena told Beau about Main Justice’s response, and she and he came up with a strategy. She texted back. Given how long you’ve had at least one traitor working in your midst, I’m surprised you expect me to identify myself. Check the bastard out, and you’ll see I’m right. Do it now. Lives are at risk. Confirm for me by nine a.m. EDT tomorrow that you’re actively investigating Martin, or I’ll assume you’re stalling. Regards.
Again, she copied Roger who sent her a smiley face. She got no response from Chen, which didn’t surprise her. DOJ’s bureaucrats tended to move at a glacial pace, particularly when investigating themselves. In any case, security experts all across the government had to be shitting in their pants. Even if she was wrong about Martin being dirty, any halfway competent security guru could see that the Shanghai hacks worked great. China’s spies must’ve been taking advantage of those tools for months.
-o-o-o-
Monday
Athena’s phone beeped a mere seven minutes before the deadline she’d set for Chen. That could mean different things, but they obviously weren’t eager to work with her on their mole problem. Tamping down her frustration, she checked the message.
Thank you for bringing your research to our attention. Of course, you have leveled extremely serious charges against a senior departmental official. Please understand that we will take your claim seriously. At the same time, we have to proceed deliberately when investigating any highly respected figure, particularly when these allegations come from a fully anonymous source. We have begun an inquiry, and we expect it will take weeks to complete. As soon as we make any determination about the validity of your allegations, we will contact you on this server. Thank you for your patience while we complete this important investigation.
In other words, don’t call us, we’ll call you, and only if we feel like it. Athena wasn’t surprised, but she was disappointed. The bureaucracy’s first instinct would be to cover Justice’s ass. As an Assistant US Attorney in Cheyenne, she’d seen way too much of that kind of thing.
After copying Roger, she cc’d him her response to Main Justice. I’d hoped you’d give my claims and bona fides the urgency they demand. But no worries; I know who will. Don’t say later that I didn’t give you a chance to quietly do the right thing.
Chen must’ve anticipated that kind of response because a moment later, she received a several-thousand-word message that started with, Before you do anything foolish, such as by making these poorly substantiated allegations against Mr. Martin public, be aware that your threats are being examined as an attempt to blackmail the department. Mr. Martin is a highly respected attorney who has worked for the Justice Department for decades. We must respect his right to due process while we examine his conduct. We urge you in the strongest possible terms to be patient.
That preface was followed by a detailed explanation of Federal extortion laws and how they could be used to prosecute Athena. She was stunned by how quickly their attitude had changed.
After sending that response to Roger, she was tempted to fire back a quick fuck you very much to Chen, but that wouldn’t convince anyone at Main Justice. She’d given them a chance to investigate Martin immediately because there was a remote chance that he had been set up. In any case, she’d surely given them enough evidence to justify a search warrant for Martin’s devices.
To push them in the right direction, she texted, Your best response to the questions some pesky reporter might ask you about Martin will be to say you’ve arrested him—or cleared him. There is no viable middle ground for DOJ.
On a hunch, she checked Chen’s Outlook files again to see if anything new had popped up in his Santiago Cartel folder. It hadn’t, but something else caught her attention. The day before, his folder had contained over a thousand messages. Now, there were only 383. Chen had spent hours sanitizing his files when he should’ve been investigating Martin. Our tax dollars at work!
The department had blown the chance Athena had given them. Time for Plan B.
For years, she’d subscribed online to the Washington Post, among several other newspapers, so she already knew who covered the Main Justice beat. She sent a brief, anonymous email to Vanessa Carter asking if she wanted a story about DOJ corruption, and copied Roger again.
Most recently, Vanessa had written a series of articles about how the US Attorney’s Office in Miami had been abusing the civil forfeiture laws and grabbing mansions, yachts, and luxury cars from people DOJ never charged with any crime. And if Carter wasn’t interested in Athena’s story, maybe someone at the New York Times would be.
-o-o-o-
Beau wandered into Athena’s office. She told him what she’d done.
He yelled, “Are you nuts? Now, instead of just mobsters gunning for us, the Feds will be, too. And did you forget that Roger and I work for DOJ?”
“I’ll keep you two out of this, but doing things by the book hasn’t panned out for me, not at all. I’m going rogue, if for no other reason than to protect myself and my son. If you want to go your own way, I’ll try to understand.”
That shut him up. It was lucky because she couldn’t imagine living her life without him. She particularly needed help in raising Leo. But leaving was probably his smartest next move.
“I’m not going anywhere. I still have the right to speak my mind.”
Relief flowed through her. “Couldn’t agree more.”
-o-o-o-
While Athena waited for a response from Carter, she wondered who else might suffer collateral damage if she leaked the details about the mole to the press. Roger came to mind first. He had his own terrible injuries to overcome, and she didn’t want to cause him any more grief. And he hadn’t commented on most of the back and forth between her and Chen.
She sent Roger an encrypted message. Sorry to add to your burdens, but as you saw, I got pissed off for the hundredth time at DOJ management and told the Washington Post I think I know who DOJ’s mole is. No response from the reporter yet, but this could get awfully ugly for everybody involved. Tell me if I’m crazy. Love,
Athena.
His response wasn’t long in coming. Looks like I’m going to survive, so I suppose I should worry about my damned job. But it’s high time somebody went crazy in this situation. Acting smart hasn’t helped either one of us much, has it? Fuck them all, I say. Tell the Post everything.
Athena burst out laughing. Beau groaned when she showed him the message.
-o-o-o-
Santiago Ranch, near Vail
Carlotta had settled into the new ranch, and the two days of peace and quiet since leaving the casa had soothed her mind. For better or worse, the ranch was surrounded by thickly forested mountains, so the cops could be hiding back in the trees.
Carlotta had resupplied the ranch and summoned ten more of Pablo’s best soldiers. They could hold out for months if necessary.
Hopefully, they wouldn’t have to. The press reports about DEA’s epic failure at Casa Santiago must’ve convinced the Feds that the approach was crazy. Things would soon get back to normal. Even Martin said so.
Best of all, Jasmine was a treasure. Carlotta had never encountered a more kind and life-affirming person. Carlotta realized she was besotted but didn’t try to fight it. Life was fleeting, and she needed to grab every bit of joy that she could.
Her pleasant remembrance was interrupted when someone knocked on her office door.
Back to the cold and cruel real world. Her voice hardened. “Come in.”
Pablo did. “The news continues to be good. Salt Lake City has sent us fifty men who should arrive before dark. And we’re getting full cooperation from our newly acquired businesses.”
“Excellent. After one of the worst shocks of my life, things are coming together beautifully. Perhaps we should celebrate our good fortune tonight. The one bit of bad news is Heidi has refused to become our new Santa Muerte. We may have to forget using that folk religion to influence people.”
He nodded. “She would’ve been a terrible substitute for Viola. By the way, the men found her online again, and they’ve created a shrine for her in the new barracks.”
Anointed (Vanished Book 3) Page 19